Just curious what you all think. It's summer and our national pastime is in full swing.

I'll list some of my faves and least faves. Feel free to include ones that have recently been "retired" as long as they're not too old.

Faves:
1) Fenway Park, Boston - a classic, wouldn't change a thing
2) Pac Bell, SF - the best of the new parks, beautiful setting, splash hits, food, what's not to love?
3) Dodger Stadium, LA - it just has a unique feel with the hills in the distance, the history

Least faves:
1) Coliseum, Oakland - gloomy and desolate
2) Shea Stadium, NY - the East Coast version of the Coliseum, thank God they retired it
3) Tropicana Field, Tampa - it was fun the first season (when I went) but kind of a weird place, probably not nearly as fun now with 1/3 the attendance

Your picks?

Best:

-Tiger Stadium-extremely quirky and cooler than Fenway and Wrigley
-PNC Park
-AT&T

Worst:

-RFK Stadium-crappy POS that embodied all the souless '60s era stadiums

Been to 29 MLB parks. Heading to Philly in September.

I haven't been to enough to really say. My list is: Candlestick, ATT, Oakland Coliseum, Dodger Stadium, Angle Stadium before and after the 90's renovation, Jack Murphy Stadium, PetCo Park, Bank One Ballpark, Kingdome, Safeco, Wrigley.

I think that's it. Of those, the best is ATT and the worst is Oakland. Dodger Stadium is a close second to worst behind Oakland.

worst:
1: Dodgers
2:Exhibition Stadium
3:Veterans Stadium

Best:
1: Cubs
2: At and T
3: Anaheim Angels

Favorites:
1. Fenway Park
2. All others

There is something about Boston on a summer evening that is just magical. The Commons, the Public Gardens, the Fenway, the Back Bay, Newbury Steet, Beacon Hill, the Charles River, all of it, the place is just teaming with life. Concerts, restaurants, bars, and then a game at Fenway, nothing else quite like it. Some of the best summers of my life were spent in New England (winters are another story, in fact, they drove me to move to Hawaii).

For current MLB parks:

Best:
AT&T
Petco
Camden Yard
Coors Field
Nationals Stadium

Worst:
Oakland Coliseum
no other stadium comes close

goseecal;344573 said:

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For current MLB parks:

Best:
AT&T
Petco
Camden Yard
Coors Field
Nationals Stadium

Worst:
Oakland Coliseum
no other stadium comes close

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The Trop and Sunlife Stadium are equally as turrible as the Coliseum.

The Coliseum wasn't so bad before Al Davis came back and put that monstrosity out in center field. Now it's just ugly (and nearly impossible to find your way around in, if you're crossing through Mount Davis).

my faves (visited and not visited):

1- PNC Park
2- Wrigley
2- ATT Park
3- Angel Stadium (homer pick)

Least favs:

1- RFK (it sucked)Ba
2- OAK (it sucks)
3- BOS (I hate Boston)

I've been to: Angels Stadium, Chase Field, ATT, OAK, The Ballpark in Arlington, Dodger Stadium, Camden Yards, RFK, The Juice Box of Houston, Wrigley, Jack Murphy, US Cellular Field and Candlestick.

Spending the weekend in the Gaslamp District and walking to a Padre game is pretty darn good! Great stadium and surrounding area!

sycasey;344583 said:

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The Coliseum wasn't so bad before Al Davis came back and put that monstrosity out in center field. Now it's just ugly (and nearly impossible to find your way around in, if you're crossing through Mount Davis).

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I've never liked this argument - yes Mt davis does block the view of the oakland hills (with the quarry gash in the middle), but every single sight line is the same from every seat but the bleachers. What has changed since 1996 is that over half of MLB teams have new stadiums, so comparatively the coli is much worse, but it was always a huge compromise. Mt. Davis is an annoyance, but doesn't appreciably change a fans view of the game.

In addition to the large foul ground pushing non-homeplate seats way to far from the action, what is really annoying with the coliseum is the walkways in front of the upper deck, the front of the plaza level deck, and the middle of the field level seats - so people are always circulating in front off you and blocking your view, though this can be really interesting for people watching, heckling/taunting, or watching OPD roll up some drunkard.
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back to the original question-

I've been to 20 parks, 16 current -

For some reason, and my memory could be wrong because I was there once and it was before I went to a lot of others, I thought Camden was the best of the new stadiums because it had good sightlines/ comfortable angles even down the lines. Almost every stadium, with the exception of Oakland, has good infield seats, but a lot of the newer stadiums don't have enough angle so it's really straining to watch the game. ATT is the most picturesque, but for baseball there are lots of seats in the lower level that are just facing the wrong direction, so one has to strain to see homeplate, plus the slope is too flat and not even close to facing homeplate, so if people in the next section (or aisle) get up, it blocks the field (and I'm talking between 3b and the LF wall, not the weird LF corner seats). I'm sure the flatness of the lower level is to get in as many club seats/boxes as possible. Coors Field is very similar, but not quite as bad in the sightlines category.

On the other hand older stadiums like dodger stadium or the old yankee stadium had great seats down the lines because they were turned in (angle behind homeplate way sharper than 90 degrees) , but it was at the expense of having a lot of room behind homeplate.

1. camden
2. wrigley
3. comerica (I'm somewhat surprised by my gut feeling, though look at it on google maps and compare seats to ATT)
4. att
5. coors

last: oakland (though i guess it's not least favorite since I always have a good time at games there)

even worse but gone:
metrodome

never been to, but most likely on par or worse than oak:
landshark/proplayer/joe robbie
tropicana

Not as bad as you might think:
Kauffman (especially after the upgrade?), thought it has the best angle to maximize the sight-lines.

Could be #1 from what I've heard:
PNC

Monstrosities:
Miller Park
New Comiskey

Historically cool, but boston fans **** me off and seats are fine only for midgets:
Fenway

BearDevil;344555 said:

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-RFK Stadium-crappy POS that embodied all the souless '60s era stadiums

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Haven't seen a ball game there, but I can imagine it's pretty bad. Kinda cool that you can go up to the top of the stadium and see the Capitol and the Washington Monument.
Did see some good events there though:
World Cup in '94 (Switzerland vs. Spain)
Concerts: Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead

HaloBear;344592 said:

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my faves (visited and not visited):

1- PNC Park
2- Wrigley
2- ATT Park
3- Angel Stadium (homer pick)

Least favs:

1- RFK (it sucked)Ba
2- OAK (it sucks)
3- BOS (I hate Boston)

I've been to: Angels Stadium, Chase Field, ATT, OAK, The Ballpark in Arlington, Dodger Stadium, Camden Yards, RFK, The Juice Box of Houston, Wrigley, Jack Murphy, US Cellular Field and Candlestick.

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I never would have guess that, HaloBear. :rollinglaugh: I like Angel's stadium too, but my only knock on it is the scenery. Give me some hills or a bridge or a city skyline beyond the outfield bleachers. Anything but the 57 freeway and the Honda Center. But I guess when your team is located in Anaheim you don't really have any of those better options.

Have you ever had those 18" hot dogs that they only sell at that one tiny booth above the right-center field bleachers? They're worth the walk over from any section in the stadium.

St. Louis Cardinals have the best fans but nothing else equals Fenway and Wrigley.

Here's a fun question: Fenway or Wrigley? Anyone been to both and have a preference? I've never been to Wrigley, but a lot of people have said it's like Fenway but in much better shape and with more fun surroundings.

510Bear;344651 said:

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Here's a fun question: Fenway or Wrigley? Anyone been to both and have a preference? I've never been to Wrigley, but a lot of people have said it's like Fenway but in much better shape and with more fun surroundings.

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Wrigley is awesome and I could go to a game every day there if I lived in Chicago. Fenway is fun, but I would get annoyed with it quickly. What is cool about Wrigley is the closeness of the upper deck (which sucks for some suckers behind poles in the lower deck). Wish I had made it to Tiger Stadium because that was right on top of things too.

It's strange, of the new stadiums Petco went against the grain and built a much more cantilevered 2nd deck, which does make the lower deck kind of gloomy in places. I bet the 2nd deck seats are really close (still nothing like the old stadiums w/ supports), but I sat well under the overhang behind home plate which seemed like a dungeon.

Really depends on where you sit at Fenway. Some of the seats are at odd angles to the field and thus have crappy sightlines. 8th inning "Sweet Caroline" is cheesy, but fun. They've encapsulated the immediate neighborhood around Fenway, so there are a few bars that you can only access on gamedays with a ticket. There's a highway behind the Green Monster, so the whole stadium area is pretty cramped. There's a converted equipment shed in right center that becomes a bar post-game. They open up a grate and you can see the stadium from field level. Pretty cool. Have always been fond of the Sox, but the bandwagon whores who swarmed AT&T last weekend were waaaay over the top.

Wrigleyville is a much larger neighborhood and there are a lot more places to go before and after games. Watched a Cal football game with the Cal Club of Chicago once at one of the Wrigleyville bars. Seventh inning stretch is pretty cool as is the ivy and the rooftop clubs across the street. Neither Fenway nor Wrigley are great shakes for amenities, but that's not why you go to a game there.

Fenway and Wrigley are fun, but I thought both Tiger and Comminsky offered more old school charm. Really wish I'd seen a game at Cleveland Stadium. Fenway and Wrigley occupy better neighborhoods and are events/celebrations as much as baseball games.

But I also like the Jake in Cleveland. Like the new Pittsburgh stadium and the new Detroit Stadium.

We usually go to minor league parks too. I've been to all five of the A's Minor League Parks. Like the Carolina Mudcat Stadium in North Carolina. The Toledo Mudhen Stadium and the Quad City Swing in Davenport Iowa.

Having grown up in Boston I have a different view on Fenway. Basically it is a dump and only survived demolition through the incompetence of the city of Boston and the Red Sox. Some where along the line it morphed into high church but the sightlines are horrible, it's overpriced and the bathrooms are vintage Roman empire. It is of course a unique baseball experience but one I could do without on a regular basis.

What a great pleasure it was last weekend to watch the Red Sox at a real ball park in San Francisco. What a glorious place for baseball on a brilliant San Francisco day: lunch at the ferry building, walk to the park, see the Sox throttle the hapless Giants, stop for some beers with the pink hats and listen to baseball stories and lies.

Wrigley is also too high church for me but you have to experience a game there though if anything I find many fans there might as well be at an amusement park-not enough interest in the game.

Camden is good because it was the first of the urban ball parks and deserves a lot of credit for its vision,

I'm a huge Giants fan, a former season tix holder, and a fan of AT&T for day games and warm windless nights, but sorry, AT&T can be extrodinarily unpleasant on a cold blustery night. Because of that reservation, I'm not sure I can put it in the top group with Fenway, Wrigly, etc.

89Bear;344601 said:

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Spending the weekend in the Gaslamp District and walking to a Padre game is pretty darn good! Great stadium and surrounding area!

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Agree that the surrounding area is top notch, but the stadium itself, baah. Other than the brick building in left field, it feels like one of the '70s/'80s era, soulless, concrete wastelands to me. I don't know, maybe it's just the small crowds that tend to show up that make it seem "soulless". I've been there 3 or 4 times and it's always at least half empty. When full, I'd imagine it's a lot better.

Of those I've been to:

Best
1) AT&T (sit in the Arcade if you haven't before, close to the foul pole...my personal favorites. Better than Field Club, imo, and 1/3 the price)
2) Camden
3) Coors
4) Jacobs
5) Arlington

Worst
1) Candlestick (pre left field bleachers)
2) Oakland
3) The Murph
4) Candlestick (post left field bleachers)
5) Astrodome

MoragaBear;344686 said:

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I'm just keeping a step ahead of you, BD. I'm at 30 stadiums and hit Philly, New Busch and Washington's new ballpark in the last two seasons. Only have Target Field (Minnesota's new ballpark), Houston, Florida, Tampa and Arizona to go.

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If you have been to Seattle you have effectively been to Houston. Just add a train station behind left field, the weird CF mound and air conditioning. I prefer Seattle - less quirks, the train that goes by the stadium, more scenic views outside the stadium, etc.

My favorite and least favorite stadiums no longer exist. The old Yankee stadium was just majestic. That line from Billy Crystal in City Slickers about walking through the tunnel and seeing the green grass rang true for me. The worst - hands down - was Candlestick.

Anyway, I'd classify the remaining parks this way:

[U]The Classics[/U]:
Dodger Stadium (I grew up going to games here so I'm biased), Wrigley (it is so intimate...we had a running conversation with LF Moises Alou about movies throughout the game; we could hear the home plate umpire calling balls and strikes from the LF bleachers), Fenway (someday, someday), etc. They are all great, it just depends what you like.

[U]The New Parks[/U]:
They are all nice but the design decision to go retro makes them often largely indistinguishable from one another (I realize that's somewhat counter-intuitive, given that each park has some unique features). I appreciate that the new Yankee Stadium (from what I can tell on TV) rejected that approach.

[U]The Leftovers[/U]:
Angel Stadium, Kaufman, etc.

[U]The Worst[/U]:
Nothing is as bad as some of the old stadiums - Candlestick, The Kingdome - but the Oakland Coliseum comes to mind as probably the worst of the rest at this point.

SeymoreBear;344569 said:

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worst:
1: Dodgers
2:Exhibition Stadium
3:Veterans Stadium

Best:
1: Cubs
2: At and T
3: Anaheim Angels

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Dodger Stadium does not blow. For such an old park, it's one of the cleanest and well maintained places around. Wrigley for all its history and quaintness, smells like urine - the whole place. Esp. on a hot August day.

And you like the Big A over Doyer Stadium? You lost me right there. I guess boulders go a long way in your calculus.

KoreAmBear;345176 said:

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Dodger Stadium does not blow. For such an old park, it's one of the cleanest and well maintained places around. Wrigley for all its history and quaintness, smells like urine - the whole place. Esp. on a hot August day.

And you like the Big A over Doyer Stadium? You lost me right there. I guess boulders go a long way in your calculus.

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KAB = voice of reason once again. I'm a Giants fan and even I unabashedly flove Dodger Stadium. Let me count the ways....

It feels like an old classic, but not in a decrepit way like old Yankee Stadium.

The view beyond the outfield - hills, palm trees, distant mountains - is very "only in L.A." The only way it could be more so is if you could somehow get the Santa Monica beach in there.

Location: close to Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Olvera St., Phillipe's Original Restaurant, mmmm, Phillipe's...

The upper deck is definitely the place to be. Sit behind home plate way up for cheap. Rumor says it gets kind of fight-y when the Giants hit town, but I didn't see that.

The people-watching is cool too. It's a true cross-section of L.A., from teenage girls from the 818 to old guys who've been showing up forever, and everyone in between.

The jumbotron encouraged a "Hee Seop Choi" chant when he came up to bat.

And it's actually a decent place to watch baseball, for anyone who cares about that. Good view of the field and such.

In short, it's gonna be a sad day when they retire this place.

(As for "Angela Stadium", I've been there both before and after the renovations, and actually liked it better before. Even though it was fully enclosed, at least it wasn't full of all that Disney-ized waterfall crap.)

Baseball sucks. That is all.

Jk (sorta), watching a game at Fenway was pretty cool, felt like a HS stadium or something.

KoreAmBear;345176 said:

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Dodger Stadium does not blow. For such an old park, it's one of the cleanest and well maintained places around. Wrigley for all its history and quaintness, smells like urine - the whole place. Esp. on a hot August day.

And you like the Big A over Doyer Stadium? You lost me right there. I guess boulders go a long way in your calculus.

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Angels stadium is to Dodgers stadium as Westfield Mall is to San Francisco.

510Bear;344651 said:

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Here's a fun question: Fenway or Wrigley? Anyone been to both and have a preference? I've never been to Wrigley, but a lot of people have said it's like Fenway but in much better shape and with more fun surroundings.

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I just took a tour of Wrigley. The friendly confines have a lot going for them, but there are a lot of obstructed view seats, the press box and locker rooms are really substandard. I asked the tour guide if the press box windows opened. He said that as soon as the weather gets warm enough, they just remove them.

GB54;345253 said:

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Angels stadium is to Dodgers stadium as Westfield Mall is to San Francisco.

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Bingo.

The other nice thing about Dodger Stadium is since it's the highest capacity MLB stadium (56k) there are still cheap seats to be had. All of these new stadiums, while nice, usually seat in the low to mid 40's -- makes tickets more expensive and the game more of a country club atmosphere.

It's a great place to see a game -- as is AT&T, in a totally different way. Biggest drawback to Dodger Stadium is getting out of there -- that parking lot is brutal.

maxer;345494 said:

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Bingo.

The other nice thing about Dodger Stadium is since it's the highest capacity MLB stadium (56k) there are still cheap seats to be had. All of these new stadiums, while nice, usually seat in the low to mid 40's -- makes tickets more expensive and the game more of a country club atmosphere.

It's a great place to see a game -- as is AT&T, in a totally different way. Biggest drawback to Dodger Stadium is getting out of there -- that parking lot is brutal.

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Yah the parking lot is brutal not because there aren't many parking spots but because there are too many bottle necks, which is what you're gonna get when having to funnel in and out of a "ravine".

Like 510Bear said the upper deck GA section is amazing as the seats are all between the bases. They are still $6. As you know, most of the action in baseball between the bases and in the infield, so this is probably the best deal in professional sports. No, there are not as much fights as I believe are in the right field all you can eat Dodger Dog pavillion. The Latin based fans are extremely passionate about the Doyers and take umbrage with Gigante fans with intensity as much as an world cup qualifier. It can get kind of Raiderish in the bleachers. It wasn't like that growing up going to Dodger Stadium. It's a tradeoff as the Dodger fans are now way more passionate then they used to be in the 70s and 80s but definitely there are more altercations.

Toronto's old Exhibition Stadium not only was the worst stadium, but was filled with the worst fans I've ever seen...which includes the beach ball playing, dot-racing, wave-doing, Giants-hating, Oakland A's fans.

The Best? Easily AT&T.

DBear;345522 said:

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Toronto's old Exhibition Stadium not only was the worst stadium, but was filled with the worst fans I've ever seen...which includes the beach ball playing, dot-racing, wave-doing, Giants-hating, Oakland A's fans.

The Best? Easily AT&T.

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In what way are they the best? St Louis to me had the best fans in that they were knowledgable but not brutal like the east coast fans can be.

Just win, Baby.